AUBURN HILLS, Michigan — Traditional owners' manuals are going the way of the rumble seat, at least where Chrysler is concerned. On Monday, the Detroit automaker said it will switch to digital manuals on its 2010 Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep vehicles.
Chrysler said it will save 930 tons of paper, "or the equivalent of 20,000 trees on an annual basis," in the move to the DVD and a small printed guide that highlights basic information such as seat adjustment and windshield-wiper use.

The company isn't completely shutting out computer illiterates, however. It said traditional manuals can still be obtained from dealers or by calling Chrysler customer service.
Chrysler owners' manuals are now blockbuster-size 4-pounders that eat up much of the room in a glove compartment.
"As vehicles have increased in complexity, so has the size of traditional owners' manuals," said Pietro Gorlier, president and CEO of Mopar Service, Parts and Customer Care for Chrysler. "With this new approach, we are making it much more convenient for customers to find the information they seek."
Inside Line says: Expect DVD-style owners' manuals to become commonplace with most automakers in short order. — Anita Lienert, Correspondent


http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do...ticleId=157691
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My question is, how are you suppose to read your owners manual when you are in your car?

 

Exactly what I was thinking. Most people dont memorize their manual. If that was the case, then they could just check them out for a week. I know a lot of people dont even read them. So when that engine light comes on, they'll probably just keep driving around till they get a chance to pop that DVD into the player. I like the way their going, but it would be a lot more impressive if they went the route of offering something like amazon's kindle.

 

maybe they forgot to mention they will be including in dash dvd players standard on all vehicles.....

 

I got an entire library with my bimmer...plus a library of DVDs...the DVDs were a bit "artsy fartsy".

I kind of like the library though...something nice about having a nicely bound hardback reference set for your car.

 

yet another company sees that going green positively affects their bottom line.

 

And negatively affects their consumer, and has potential to tarnish the brand...

I agree with the other replies stating that there needs to be a way to check the manual in the car, and instantly... If something were to go wrong, and someone had to go home and get on their computer to put the DVD in and check for a solution, this would be very easy for a lot of people to neglect, and when it develops into a larger problem, prople could just associate the brand with problems...

I like the idea of the kindle, but that sounds expensive for an already financially injured company...

 

Al: most people don't read the manual anyways. (just look at this place...)
I think it's a great move.

 

Granted no one reads it cover to cover, that is not to say they dont reference it...

 

no, i would say most people dont read it at all.

rtfm wouldnt be such a popular phrase otherwise.

 

Thats an assumption based on self-righteousness...

Just because someone hasnt found the answer in the manual does not mean they have not looked. They may have looked, not known exactly what they were looking for, and tried to find the advice of someone more educated on the matter...

 

i read all my manuals cover to cover. i read the rx-8 manual cover to cover twice

 

Well I would say you are the exception to my statement and not the opposition. I read through my "quick facts" guide lol, other than that, I look at the manual if there is an issue that I need some more insight for.

 

Not a question of reading...

It's all about storage.

I think my manual lived in the glovebox for about a week. Now it's at home.

(I keep the warranty / service booklet, and the instructions for the stupid iPod dock in the car, though).

 

Pretty stupid, considering most people who actually still buy Chryslers are old people.

 

Not true, around here the ghettos and projecs are full of Chrysler 300's with 37" spinning rims and vertical door kits...

 

Someday, the owner's manual will be on a digital drive within the car, and the display for the radio will process to common LCD type screens, even if not common dimensions, and you can call up the owner's manual, and other questions on the digital library in the car at whim.

And the Check Engine light will go the way of the dodo, and instead be replaced with the actual problem: "Please tighten your gas cap more" or "OMG your sparkplugs are dying and you keep misfiring like crazy." or "Your cat is clogged, you need it replaced" or "your MAF sensor needs cleaning", or "Stop reving that high you freakin idiot! This Chrystler isn't an RX-8!"
Simple to do linking the code to a layman's description and putting it on the radio display.

They already have cars that can schedule a service visit at a dealer for you...why not update how the car tells you it has a problem? Yeah, the dealers want money, but realistically, informing the driver will always be better for the brand in the long run, and avoiding all the people complaining about a $89.99 diagnostics fee to find out that they didn't tighten the gas cap enough.

 

Yeah, another "green" excuse to screw the consumer. It is nice the manual is there if you have to check something while driving.

 

I think they should give you a flash drive with the manual on it. Most people these days have laptops or smart phones that they could email the file to if they need to reference it while 'on the side of the road'
Since I'm sure most people will do that and not just call AAA.

 

Probably right. The price of the car will stay the same, the manual will probably cost a good bit extra.

 

I remember years ago when my parents bought a dodge (which was a mistake on its own...) the dealership held a sort of a "gettign to know your car" meeting for people that had bought that car. It was sort of like a class they invited the customers to that outlined specific things about the vehicles they just bought, how to perform certain maitenance and what maitenance needed to be performed, etc etc etc. Was kind of a neat deal they did to familiarize people with their cars.

Would probably only work with new car sales though...

 

For used cars, they should design an online forum which you can visit, and certain information that you need to know permanently stuck to the top of the pages, but allowing you to ask your questions as well....





Sounds like the real life version of The Stickies!

 

Would never work...

 

True story

 

Maybe if the forum had a required reading page, and an entrance exam that quizzed you on all of the material covered by the stickies?

 

Yeah, but then Jedi, Atilla, Dozer, MM, Easy, etc... wouldn't have anywhere near the post count they do. Alfy wouldn't be a world famous comic artist.

Gotta get material from someone!